by Shea Malloy
That wakes me up.
“Maybe he’s just passing by,” I say, but I hurry to dress anyway.
“I doubt it.”
Finally, worry catches up to me.
“How does he know we’re here?”
Theron glances in the direction he threw my collar last night.
“He must have found the collar’s id from the database and hunted you down using the tracker.”
But why is he hunting me? Whatever the reason, the end result won’t be good for me.
“I will not let him take you,” says Theron as he grabs my hand and leads me out of the den.
We are stopped in our tracks when three draki lands before us. It’s the first time I’ve ever been this close to so many dragons and the sight is daunting.
They all look like dark, gigantic monsters covered in scales, but every rur draki has unique patterns differentiating themselves from each other.
I recognize Ronan’s dragon form right away. His scales aren’t black but deep grey. And he looks the most menacing of the three.
As if to solidify my guess, he shifts into his primary form. The other two remain as they are in their dragon form like monstrous guards.
“I am glad you are here, Theron,” he says, a dark smile curving his lips. “I’m afraid I bring bad news. Last night, the Konai was found dead. Medics say he’s been dead for a few days.”
Theron’s features mirrors my own surprise. As much as there is no sadness in the news, there is no joy either.
“Then why are you here and not searching for his murderer?”
“I have found her already,” Ronan says with sinister glee. “The spawn of that human I executed was recorded via her collar plotting the crime. You and I were also her targets.”
Xia killed Aphat? I find it hard to believe even though I know how much Xia hated him. My skin prickles with dread as Ronan’s gaze lands on me.
“This vermin to whom you have taken an unnatural and disgusting fancy was overheard on the recording encouraging the murderer.”
Immediately, I realize what he’s talking about. That last conversation I had with Xia before she stormed off. How she threatened to kill those she felt had done her an injustice.
At the time, she was angry and hurt. People tend to say things or make outlandish threats and promises they don’t mean when they’re in such emotional state. That doesn’t mean they intended to hold true to their words.
Besides, Ronan is a known liar. He killed Shihong and imprisoned the rest of us under false charges. Now he’s twisting my words. Livid, I am shaking. I open my mouth, ready to call him what he is, but Theron speaks first.
“The next time you refer to my fire’s half in such an insulting manner will be your last, Ronan,” says Theron coldly and Ronan’s features twist in disgust. “You speak lies. Seela does not encourage others to take lives. So if you are lying about this, then I question the rest of what you’ve said.” He steps forward, making sure to keep me from Ronan’s direct reach. “Did you kill Aphat?” I can’t see his face, but there’s a deadliness to his voice.
He focuses his baleful gaze on Theron in silence. If he killed Aphat, he would never admit.
“I suppose there’s no point in hiding anymore since you won’t be leaving here alive,” he says. “Of course it was I who killed Aphat. And it was I who had you attacked in the forest that day.”
“Why, Ronan?” Theron asks his tone equally betrayed and furious. “I shared no love for Aphat, but he was your friend. I was your friend. Why did you turn against us?”
“Because you all disappointed me,” Ronan says. “I thought you would become the Konai I could serve. Your toha invited pests into our great region and your okan only cared about the benefits of being a Konai. But you... you cared about Andrasar as a Konai should. Unfortunately, you are Dohar’s son. His weakness lived on inside of you despite my attempts to teach you strength.” He sneers. “You grew complacent in your duties, allowing the humans to survive among us. Then you spared their lives. And now you claim one as your mate.” He shakes his head in disgust. “No Visclaud is worthy of the title of Konai. Only I can make Andrasar great again.”
“I will die before I let Andrasar fall prey to your treacherous, war-mongering hands.”
Ronan laughs evilly. “Truly like father, like son. Dohar said the same before I took his and your kaha’s useless lives.”
With a snarl, Theron shifts and charges at Ronan, breathing fire.
As Ronan returns to his dragon form and retaliates, the other two draki join in on the fight. It’s an uneven match, three against one.
I want to help Theron in some way, but what can I do when even their tails are larger than me? So I’m forced to retreat to the inside of the den.
I look on in terror as the Andrasari male who has become important to me battles against three of his kind.
My heart pounds as violently as the ground shakes. Theron bites the neck of one draki, tearing through its toughened scales, severing a significant portion of its flesh.
Copious amounts of dark blood sprays everywhere. It’s a horrifying sight, the draki’s pained howl making my blood curdle. It returns to its primary form, the wound even more gruesome as the Andrasari male falls dead to the ground.
Spreading his wings, Theron launches into the air and the remaining two pursue him.
He does not fly far. He darts away abruptly, circling to grab hold of the draki that’s closest so he could breathe fire in its face and tear open its chest with his vicious claws.
As that second draki falls from the sky in his primary form, the third retreats from Theron. It dives toward where I stand.
It’s Ronan and he’s coming for me.
But Theron catches him first, slamming into him so they both crash toward the ground near the den’s entrance. I lose my balance and fall backward from the force of the impact. The floor is sunk where they land, fissures expanding outward.
The fight might be evenly matched now but Ronan seems as strong as Theron. They tussle, swiping and clawing at the each other.
When he clamps his teeth on Theron’s neck, I don’t think. Logic vanishes. This monster is ready to end the life of my Andrasari and I won’t let it. I shove to my feet and pick up a hefty rock nearby, flinging it at him to distract him.
He immediately raises his head and belts a wave of fire in my direction.
I scream and throw myself to the ground, scrambling away as fast as I can into the den’s depths. The fire misses me, but the heat is so intense I’m drenched in sweat.
A howl sounds and my heart lurches into my throat. I’m too far into the den to see what has happened, but fury and pain is an awful, leaden mix in my chest at the thought that my help was in vain, that Ronan still killed Theron.
Uncaring that Ronan will kill me next, I race out of the den.
But where there were two draki, there are now two Andrasari males in their primary form. Ronan lays dead on the ground, a sickening sight as most of his insides are outside his body. He must have perished because of that brief moment of inattention when he tried to burn me alive.
Theron, weak and breathing hard, stands over Ronan. Overwhelmed with joy, I reach for him. He encompasses me in a possessive grip and I hold him against me without care that he’s covered in blood and gore.
He’s mine.
He’s alive.
That’s all that matters.
22
Seela
—
In the wake of his Aphat’s death, Theron becomes the new Konai of Andrasar.
And true to the promise he made to me that night in the den, he frees all humans from slavery.
Surprisingly, many Andrasari support the decision. They are happy to escape the remnants of Aphat’s violent reign and foster peace in their region.
Of course, there are still those who believe that humans and Rur beings should not coexist. They are now the few. Those who continue to exhibit hostility and violence toward humans are caught and impriso
ned.
As much as the freedom from slavery is a good thing, it leaves Andrasar in temporary disarray. While some humans remain in their positions, many leave gaps in the workforce as they move to form communities in the lands Theron award them.
Others, like Xia, decide to leave Andrasar to explore the rest of Rur.
“Where will you go?” I ask her. It has taken some time, because Xia is not one who forgives easily, but she and I have reconciled. She stands with me on the balcony before the doors of the home Theron and I share.
“I don’t know.” She shifts her bag’s strap on her shoulder. “Tarro, Naveth, Yohai… maybe even Seca. As long as it’s not here.”
“I heard Seca is nothing but ice,” I say with a small smile.
“Maybe I’ll freeze to death,” she says, staring out over the city surrounding us. “That’s what I deserve.”
My smile disappears. Just as Xia does not forgive others easily, she also doesn’t forgive herself for her Shihong’s death.
“Be safe on your journey, Xia,” I say. I raise my hands to hug her but I pause and drop them. We might have reconciled, but there’s still tension between us. I believe it stems from the fact that I am in a relationship with Theron. She still despises him.
She looks at me for some time. Long enough to make me fidget. Then, to my surprise, she pulls me into her arms in a full hug.
“I’m sorry, Seela,” she whispers. “I don’t think you are a traitor. I will never have the sort of strength like you do to save someone who wanted me dead.” When she pulls away, she dashes a hand across her eyes to wipe away her tears. “If it were me who found Theron in the forest that day, we would have all still been wearing collars.”
“Don’t underestimate yourself, Xia. You are strong.”
“I’m not.” She shakes her head, then she smiles as she backs away from me in preparation to leave. “But maybe I’ll grow up someday and become just like you, Konai sa of Andrasar.”
Heat floods my face. “That’s not my title.”
With a laugh and a wave, she leaves me by myself on the balcony.
I fold my arms around myself against the slight chill. The view of the city below brings me peace. I’m startled when a pair of strong arms surround me, batting away the cold from me effortlessly.
“It could be,” Theron says, the rumble of his voice vibrating against my back, his lips moving against my ear. I shiver, but not because I’m cold. He knows this is my weakness. When he holds me, his voice low and silken in my ear. I immediately feel safe and content and aroused.
“What could be?” I ask.
“The title of Konai sa could be yours if you wished it.”
Those words make me instantly alert. I turn in his arms to face him, my heart rate speeding up. I’ve been his mate for nearly a hundred detar now learning as much about him as he does about me.
Every day, every moment I spend with him, every instance his hands and lips pleasure me make me fall harder and deeper in love with him. The first time we met, this Andrasari male threatened my life.
We were enemies willing to hurt each other for preservation. That seems so long ago. Now, he showers me with endless love and devotion.
“Are you asking me to marry you, Theron?”
He tries to hide it, but I see the vulnerable look on his face anyway.
“Only if your answer is yes and nothing else.”
“You’re arrogant even in marriage proposals.”
I say no more, delighting in the scowl darkening his features as he waits. When I was his zevyet he would have threatened me for refusing to answer him. He isn’t my zevyena anymore. He is my mate who respects me and never fails to show me I am of extraordinary value to him.
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
“What is your answer?” Without warning, his hand drops from around me and delves under my dress. His fingers skim the inside of my thigh before they rub me where I’m already damp. “Or perhaps you need some convincing?”
“Convincing is a great idea,” I say breathlessly when his fingers push aside my underwear and slips inside my wet heat.
His fingers buried inside me, stroking me, Theron brushes his lips against mine.
“Will you marry me, Seela?” he asks softly.
“Yes,” I gasp out when his thumb circles me. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
I feel his triumphant smirk against my lips as he withdraws his fingers and lifts me into his arms.
“Then with this good action it’s time you received your deserved reward.”
—
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Preview: The Alien King’s Baby
The door slid open to admit him. He stepped inside at the same moment she exited the bath. Her skin looked vibrant, the semi-sheer material of her nightgown hinting at her luscious curves. Mikaal breathed slowly to calm himself as he advanced into the room, but he only managed to inhale her delicious scent.
He felt her eyes following him as he made his way to the closet to undress. When he returned, she was perched on the edge of the bed. Her gaze fell to his naked chest immediately before climbing to his face again, her cheeks pink.
“I’m sorry for upsetting you earlier.” She dragged a toe along the carpet. “I guess I can be too inquisitive sometimes.”
“No need to apologize,” he said, forcing himself to stare at her face and not at the creamy tops of her breasts and the exposed portion of her thighs. “I … overreacted. I am not fond of those memories.”
She nodded slowly, her eyes drifting down to his chest. When she licked her lips, his cock twitched at the action. Thank the gods he’d decided to keep his pants on tonight. She couldn’t see how hard he’d become.
“What do your tattoos mean?” she asked, meeting his gaze, desire evident amid the curiosity in her deep blue eyes.
He moved closer even though a voice in his head told him that was unwise.
“They have many meanings. But this,” he spread a hand over his chest where the tattoo of the phoenix bird resided, “is the most significant. It was designed on my coronation day. It signifies dominance, perseverance, and loyalty.”
“Can I … can I touch it?”
Her voice was soft in the quiet, her words like a gentle finger sliding down his spine, nearly making him shiver. He knew the instant he felt her hands on his flesh, he wouldn’t be able to maintain control, but he also knew he’d long lost the fight to resist her tonight.
“Yes.”
She slid off the bed, her gaze holding his as she approached him slowly. When she stood before him, her gaze dropped to his chest as her hands tentatively reached out to caress him. His breathing deepened when her hands grazed his flesh. She ran a single fingertip over his skin, tracing the tattoos. Then she followed it with a more courageous touch, her hands gliding over his chest, then his abdomen, and his arms. Her touch ignited a fiery trail wherever her hands went, and the quick rise and fall of her chest suggested she was just affected by her actions as he. Mikaal couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t deny himself any longer. He’d resisted taking her for too long and the well of his willpower had been scraped dry.
“This is enough,” he said, his voice gravelly as he reached for her. He pulled her against his body, bending to claim her mouth in a hard, passionate kiss. With a soft whimper, she opened to him readily. He held her head still by fisting his hand in her curly hair and he devoured her mouth, all of his pent up frustration and lust pushed into his kiss. Her hands trapped between their bodies, her fingers curled against his skin, he kissed her hard and her soft moans only encouraged him.
“I want you,” he groaned again
st her lips.
Click here to read this story!
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Author’s Note
Hello, again! I hope you enjoyed Theron and Seela’s story in Dragon’s Captive. This story has been stewing in my head since the summer of 2016. I used some of its background about Rur and its dragons in my Celestial Mates’ book, Out of this World, but I’m happy I finally had the chance to give life to the original idea.
Strangely enough, it was inspired by the song, Needed You, sung by Rihanna. The lyrics of that song is edgy, and as such, Dragon’s Captive was meant to have a darker story and tone. However, Theron and Seela quickly stole control and ran away before I could catch up to them. ;)
Thank you for very much for reading! I hope you do grab that bonus chapter I wrote just for you!
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Shea Malloy Books
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